General Terms and Conditions of Purchase of Umland Stahlhandel GmbH Seevetal
Note: This is a translation of the German version. In cases of uncertainty or conflict,
the German version shall prevail.
I. Application
1. These Purchase Conditions (Conditions) shall apply to all our present and future orders for
merchandise and to the performance of such orders. Seller's conditions diverging from these
Conditions will not be acknowledged unless otherwise stipulated within these Conditions or
otherwise agreed in the contract with the Seller. Should we accept the merchandise not
expressly objecting these Conditions, the Seller may in no case assume our consent with his
conditions.
2. Any oral agreements made by our employees shall become binding on us only if and in so
as far we confirm them in writing.
3. Any offer made by Seller will be free of charge and not binding to us.
4. Any trade terms shall, in cases of doubt, be interpreted according to the Incoterms as
amended from time to time.
II. Prices
1. The contract price shall be regarded as a fixed price.
2. In case of “free house” deliveries, deliveries “free …place of destination” and other “free”deliveries, the price shall include the costs for freight and packaging. In case of “unfree”
delivery, we shall bear the lowest possible freight rates only, unless a special kind of delivery
has been requested by us.
III. Payment
1. Unless otherwise agreed the following terms of payment shall apply: Payment shall be
made either within 14 days with 3 p.c. discount or within 30 days without discount. Should
the Seller’s conditions for payment be more favourable, they shall prevail.
2. Payment and discount periods shall begin with the receipt of the invoice but not before the
receipt of the merchandise. In case of services, such periods shall begin only after the
transaction has been approved by us. If the delivery includes documentation (e.g. test
certificates) or similar written material, such periods shall begin only after receipt of the same
as agreed upon in the contract.
3. Payment shall be made by cheque or by bank remittance. Payment is considered to have
been made in time if the cheque has been mailed on the due date or the bank has been
instructed to make the remittance on the due date.
4. We will be liable for interest only if and so far as we are in arrears for payments, not at
their mere maturity date. The interest rate will then be 5 %points above the Basic Interest
Rate.
We are, in any case, entitled to establish a lower rate than claimed by the Seller.
5. We shall be entitled to all statutory rights as to the to set-off and retention of our claims
against the Seller’s.
IV. Delivery Times / Late Delivery
1. All contractual terms and dates of delivery shall be binding to the Seller. The Seller shall
immediately inform us in case of imminent delays and submit to us adequate proposals to
remedy the consequences of such delays.
2. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, any contractual terms and dates of delivery shall be
considered to be met only if and in so far as the merchandise has been handed over to us at
such dates.
3. If and in so far as the Seller defaults in delivery, we shall be entitled to our statutory rights.
In particular, we shall have the right to claim damages for non-performance if and in so far as
the Seller fails to effect delivery after a reasonable grace period set to him has elapsed. Our
right to request delivery shall be excluded only if the Seller has compensated us for our
damages.
4. The Seller may claim relief for his default by reason of lack of any documents to be
submitted by us only in such cases where we have, upon the Seller’s reminder, failed to
deliver such documents to him.
V. Retention of Title
1. The Seller's terms covering his retention of title shall be valid subject to the condition that
title in the merchandise shall pass to us on the date of payment for such goods.
Consequently, the extended forms of the so-called current account retention
(Kontokorrentvorbehalt) shall not apply.
2. The Seller may claim return of the merchandise on the basis of the retention clause only if
he has previously withdrawn from the contract.
VI. Performance of Deliveries and Passing of Risks
1. The Seller shall bear the risks of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the
merchandise until it has been handed over to us at its place of delivery. This provision shall
also apply in cases of “free delivery” (franco domicile)
2. We will not accept partial deliveries unless we have given our prior express consent to
them.
3. Excess or short deliveries will be accepted only in accordance with current trade practise.
4. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the Seller shall bear the costs of packing. Should we,
in a given case, agree to bear such costs, the Seller will charge us with the lowest possible
costs only. Any obligations to take back packing material shall be governed by the Packaging
Decree (Verpackungsverordnung) of 21.08.1998, as amended from time to time.
VII. Declarations of Origin
Where the Seller makes a declaration in regard to the origin of the merchandise, the
following terms shall apply:
1. The Seller will allow verification through customs authorities and submit all necessary
information as well as any required certification.
2. The Seller shall compensate us for any damages and losses incurred to us, if and in so far
as the competent authorities, due to any deficient certification or impossibility to verify, fail to
acknowledge the declared origin, unless he proves that he is not responsible for such
consequences.
VIII. Warranty Provisions and Statute of Limitations
1. The Seller shall deliver the merchandise free of any material and legal defects. He will
certify in particular that his deliveries and his services comply with the state of the art and
with any contractual requirements and standards.
2. We will examine the quality and quantity of the merchandise upon its receipt to the extent
both reasonable and technically feasible for us. Any notice of a defect will be deemed to be
intime if it reaches the Seller promptly by letter, telefax, e-mail or by telephone.
Periods for such notices shall not start before we – or in case of direct sales
(Streckengeschäfte) our buyers – have detected or should have detected the defect.
3. In the event that the merchandise shows a defect, we may exercise our statutory rights. If
the Seller tries to repair the merchandise, such remedy is considered to have failed after the
first unsuccessful attempt. We shall have the right to withdraw from the contract also in such
cases where a breach of contract is not considered to be material.
4. Where the merchandise was already defective at the time the risk passed to us, we may
claim from the Seller any expenditures in connection with such defect which we must pay to
our customer.
5. Any claims arising from defects of the merchandise will be governed by the statutory
limitation periods. Such periods will begin with the timely notification of the defect in
accordance with the provisions of No. 2 of this clause. The Seller’s warranty for the
merchandise will elapse at the latest ten years after its delivery. Such time limit will not apply
in those cases where our claims rely on facts which the Seller knew or should have known
and which he did not reveal to us.
6. The Seller hereby assigns to us - on account of performance – the benefit of any claims
against his supplier arising from the delivery of deficient merchandise or of such
merchandise not conforming with the guaranteed characteristics. He will supply us with any
documents necessary to enforce such claims.
IX. Place of Performance, Jurisdiction, Applicable Law
1. Unless otherwise agreed to, our warehouse shall be the place of performance for the
delivery.
2. The place of jurisdiction shall be Lüneburg. We may, however, sue the Seller at his place
of jurisdiction.
3. All legal relationships between ourselves and the Seller shall be governed by the laws of
the Federal Republic of Germany supplementing these Purchase Conditions, including the
provisions of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
of 11 April 1980 (UNCITRAL).
X. Applicable Version
In cases of doubt, the German version of these General Conditions of Purchase shall apply.